EXCLUSIVE: L.A.'s Grouplove Howl on New Tune

The Black Keys channeled the spirit of packs of wild animals with their Brothers song "Howlin' For You," but artsy L.A. quintet Grouplove take the full moon concept to new heights on the closing track to their debut LP, Never Trust a Happy Song. Listen to the energetic "Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten" below.

"Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten" introduces itself with collective howls from the band before moving into slowly-building acoustic guitar and call-and-response vocals. Almost suddenly, what seemed it would be a sweet and subtle album closer bursts open into an infectious power-chord-driven melody with a raucous two-minute outro.

The song, which Hooper describes as being about "moving to California, trusting your gut, and being in love," sees frontman Christian Zucconi dueting with keyboardist Hannah Hooper, "Yeah we lay down in the sand / Uh-huh / You took my clothes off with your hands / Uh-huh / I gotta say you look real pretty / Uh-huh, uh-huh / All the way from New York City."

The howling throughout the song wasn't just a gimmick, or even a pre-conceived notion. "When we were first playing it up at [bassist Ryan Rabin]'s parents house, in the [recordings] we heard an overwhelming amount of coyotes howling outside," Hooper tells SPIN. "We howled back at the coyotes and they howled back at us and on it went. It inspired us to add the howls into the song."

Grouplove will release Never Trust A Happy Song on Sept. 13 through Canvasback Music and Atlantic Records. Check a full list of their upcoming tour dates below.